James Blake fellowship created to help report police misconduct to CCRB

In exchange for the creation of the fellowship, James Blake (pictured) has agreed to withdraw against the city his notice of claim, a pre-cursor to a lawsuit, a Law Department spokesman said. (Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News)

A fellowship named after tennis star James Blake has been created to help those who report police misconduct to the CCRB, the Daily News has learned.

Mayor de Blasio, Police Commissioner James O'Neill and Blake are expected to announce the complaint-resolution program Wednesday, nearly two years after the retired tennis star was rushed and tackled in Midtown by a plainclothes cop after he was wrongly identified as being part of a credit card fraud ring.

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The officer, James Frascatore, was later brought up on departmental charges after the Civilian Complaint Review Board determined he used excessive force against Blake.

Frascatore, sources said, had recently been negotiating a plea deal with the CCRB, which is prosecuting his case in the trial room at One Police Plaza.

As of Tuesday, the two sides hadn't reached an agreement.

In exchange for the creation of the fellowship, which Blake's lawyer, Kevin Marino, negotiated, Blake has agreed to withdraw the notice of claim, a pre-cursor to a lawsuit, that he filed against the city, a Law Department spokesman said.

The Law Department has agreed to pay about $175,000 in legal costs Blake accumulated over the past two years and his travel expenses associated with developing the fellowship.

"We hope this program will enhance the CCRB review process through followup of complaints to ensure that they are appropriately and thoroughly investigated," said the NYPD's top spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Stephen Davis.

James Blake was seen being tackled by OfficerJames Frascatore in September 2015.

The incident thrust Blake, who is bi-racial, into the national debate about how police use force against minorities.

In 2016, the CCRB closed 2,429 cases — 55% of its total — without a full investigation. Cases are typically truncated because the person who filed the complaint, or a key witness, does not fully cooperate with CCRB investigators.

Critics have said the agency has been too quick in such instances to shut down these cases, even when it is possible to continue the investigation and determine if misconduct has occurred.

The fellow's role will be to improve the truncation rate by working closely with the person who files the complaint and to promote CCRB in neighborhoods where people who report misconduct often stop cooperating after filing a complaint.

The fellow will be a lawyer, sources said, and will be paid at least $65,000. The position will be funded for six years.